Slight fall in water quality

The number of beaches, rivers and lakes in the European Union that failed to meet minimum water-quality standards increased slightly in 2009, but overall cleanliness is good, according to data released by the European Environment Agency today.

In 2009, 96% of beaches and 89% of rivers and lakes met the minimum standards set out in the EU’s 1976 bathing water directive. Between 2008-09 the number of beaches meeting the minimum standards fell by 0.7%, the figure for rivers and lakes was 2.6%

“Such fluctuations are not unusual by the standards of recent years. They remind us of the need for continuing efforts to ensure that the quality of bathing waters is constantly maintained and improved,” Janez Potočnik, the European commissioner for environment, wrote in the EEA report.

Nearly all beaches in Cyprus, France, Greece and Portugal met the highest standards of cleanliness as defined in the 1976 law. Bathing was banned in around 2% of the EU’s coastal sites in 2009, mostly in Italy.